Villa Romana del Casale

The mosaicked ruins of a Roman villa in the heart of Sicily

In the hamlet of Casale outside the nondescript small city of Piazza Armerina lies one of the greatest sights in Sicily. The ★★ Villa Romana del Casale is the excavated remains of an AD 4th-century villa whose 40 rooms are carpeted with some 37,800 square feet of the most extensive, gorgeous, and colorful ancient mosaics in western Europe.

This was the hunting lodge of Maximianus, Diocletian's co-emperor, and the remarkable mosaics were probably the work of north African craftsmen. They're remarkable not only for their Technicolor variety and sheer extent of preservation (buried and forgotten for centuries under a mudslide), but also for their masterful craftsmanship.

This being a hunting lodge, many of the scenes involve big game hunting and other sports, no more spectacularly than in the Great Hunt, a mosaic scene undulating for 200 feet in a catalogue of animals found throughout the ancient empire. Most are shown being captured alive and herded onto the ships that will carry them to Rome to be used in stadium spectacles (look for the North African lion, rendered extinct by such Roman excesses).

Nearby in the palestra (gym) you'll see a Chariot Race held at Rome's Circus Maximus, complete with cheering fans.

But the most famous scene is hands-down the Ten Bikini Girls, apparently female athletes either working out at the gym or competing in various events and, yes, wearing strapless bikinis.

The kiddie's rooms are especially amusing, featuring pint-size versions of the main halls' majestic scenes.

Also be on the lookout for the mosaic erotic couple sneaking a kiss in one side room, her toga slipping off for a gratuitous bottom-shot.

Open hours

The site's open hours have been in flux. Normally, it is open daily until one hour before sunset. However, due to restoration works, its open hours varied wildly throughout 2010, then it was closed entirely from November 15, 2010, through the spring 2011 to finish the work.

Though the villa reopened in late March, 2011, admission hours have yet to be set in stone, so call ahead.

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